About ARNO

Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit grassroots volunteer organization founded by Jane Garrison and friends. Involved in hands-on Katrina rescue in the greater New Orleans area, Jane was one of the first people on the scene at ‘rescue headquarters’ located at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, LA. Jane worked with hundreds of volunteers to rescue thousands of animals, and then Lamar-Dixon shut down in October 2005.

Jane was the catalyst in putting together a talented and committed team of volunteers and staff from around the country who worked to urgently assist displaced pets and their families…ARNO was formed in October 2005. Best Friends Animal Society also provided immeasurable support and shelter care to the ARNO animal relief effort between mid-October 2005 and through February 2006.

On February 1, 2006, locals gathered at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel to meet with Jane and transition the administration of ARNO to local hands. Local leaders Charlotte Bass Lilly and Robin Beaulieu united a network of dedicated locals to continue the ardent work that Jane and legions of other tireless volunteers from across the nation had begun. Charlotte, too, was early on the scene at Lamar-Dixon, arriving directly behind the LA/SPCA animal control officers and working in water/land rescue under their direction. Robin soon joined the rescue effort at Lamar also contributing to active rescue of pets in the New Orleans area. Today locals who are able, continue to assist in the controlled feeding & trapping program, TNR program, rescues, reunites, fosters and adoptions, in addition to hundreds of out-of-state volunteers. Out-of-state volunteers, including Stealth and KART members, consistently provide volunteers on the ground, as well as assist with remote volunteer duties from the cities in which they reside. AmeriCorps and Relief Spark also assist with volunteers assigned to ARNO’s no-kill triage shelter, as well as high school and college students volunteer to fulfill community service hours required of them.

Current ARNO efforts include:

• Controlled Food and Water/Trapping program
• Humane trapping of lost pets left homeless, injured, newborn or pregnant
• Medical triage and daily care at the ARNO Plauche St. no-kill shelter location
• Animal transports to ship rescued pets to safe havens across the country
• Reunion of lost pets with their original families and caretakers
• TNR (trap-neuter-release) Program of feral cats
• Assistance to pets of caretakers who have been left indigent since Katrina
• Offsite adoptions through Canine Connection on the south shore, and Good Dog Naturally on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain; PetSmart features adoption opportunities for ARNO pets through the volunteer efforts of HSLA (Humane Society of Louisiana)
• Foster Program to house healthy animals ready for adoption to acquaint them with life within a household
• PetFinder site (LA shelter 181) to view animals ready for adoption and/or foster.

Today, ARNO is still hard at work. There are thousands of animals to be fed, trapped, cared for, reunited, fostered and adopted. ARNO survives on volunteer labor and charitable contributions. ARNO works under the authority and regulations of the local animal control facilities in Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes, as well as the parishes of St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, Terrebonne and Lafayette.

ARNO's Mission Statement:

Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO) is an organization created and dedicated to the rescue and aid of abandoned and homeless animals in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi, including responding to the immediate needs of those animals in need of medical care, or who have been neglected, abused and deprived of love. ARNO promotes the foster, adoption, and reunion of pets with caretakers, as well as spaying/neutering of all companion animals.

 

<< Back to top